“It is not easy to make a decision like this, particularly when you have a successful business”, said Anderson. “We are about to conclude our sixth straight year of profitable operations and if we ran the company based solely upon that measurement, we might continue.”

Anderson said looking ahead, Northeast’s management and the board agreed that now is an ideal time to exit this business and put the capital to use in other ways.

“We decided to do this now, while we are making money and have a lot of cash, which allows us to protect the interests of our customers and employees,” Anderson said.

Northeast was formed in 2004 to help credit unions develop small business portfolios. The CUSO said it processed over $1 billion of such loans for 20 customers in eight states.

In February 2011, the CUSO said it boosted its 2010 revenue by 19% and doubled its net earnings that year after a profitable showing in 2009 as well.

“We started and built a successful business,” White said. “There are a lot of credit unions that got into business services and are there to stay, thanks to the work of Northeast CUSO and its team.

White said “when management – Anderson, and Chief Operating Officer Rick Slater – said that the MBL environment was changing, our board listened, and we collectively agreed to a new approach that does not require a CUSO. At that point our main goal was to take good care of customers and staff, and we will do that.”

Slater said the staff and board members remain the CUSO’s most valuable assets and without them, Northeast would not have succeeded.

“I greatly appreciate our credit union customers, without whom there is no business,” Slater said. “We did a lot of good work together and I believe they have a bright future in business services. It really has been fun and rewarding.”